Applying Social Accounting

1. Applying Social Accounting OISE/UT Social Accounting Certificate Course December 13, 2004 B.J. Richmond York University Bjrichmond@edu.yorku.ca

2. Dec. 13 Afternoon Agenda

3. Presentation Outline Overview • What’s Been Done • Uses, Challenges Implementation • Approach • Plan • Reporting

4. What’s Been Done • Research • Case studies of nonprofits, co-operative • Training • Workshops, seminars, certificate course • Publications • Book, journal articles, reviews, reactions

5. SA Uses Provides nonprofits with: • New perspectives on NP use, production of resources • Emphasis on production not consumption • Management Information • For better management of resources, broader perspective on impacts

6. SA Uses • For primary stakeholders • Provides more complete picture to those who ensure its success (e.g. Board, staff, community) • Provides data for funders, donors • Proactive information on leveraging funder/donor $$

7. SA Challenges • Commitment • Need champions among staff and Board • Training • For staff, Board, volunteers • Data collection • Staff to set up effective data collection systems • Systems, standards are key • For counting, valuing volunteer hours

8. Implementation • Approach • Plan • Reporting

9. Implementation Approach • Inventory • Assess what is needed • Allocate resources • Least effort, most benefit • Train • Staff, volunteers in setting up systems, tracking • Evaluate • Benefits, use of resources

10. Developing an Implementation Plan • Step 1: Decide level • Report on volunteer contributions, one program (need to be able to capture outputs for this – see WCRI example) • Step 2: Get management on board • Handout: Persuading Your Board (LM) • Make a business case, demonstrate, prepare outline of time and resources required/sources

11. Implementation Plan cont’d • Step 3: Take inventory • What data do you have? Need? • Volunteer roles, hours; Board, committee hours • Verification – from other sources, e.g. Board hours against meetings, ED’s recollection, one member tracks; e.g. volunteer survey • Volunteer hour tracking system in place? Needed?

12. Developing an Implementation Plan • Step 4: Decide how much data to collect • Costs to volunteers? Benefits to volunteers? • Step 5: Plan resources needed • Recruit an MSW student, a volunteer to set up systems, collect data, produce parts of the report? Use staff incentives?

13. Developing an Implementation Plan • Step 6: Prepare timeline • On a two-year basis • Step 7: Prepare a “who does what, when” plan • Work backwards from first key opportunity to introduce • Step 8: Network with others who are doing this!

14. Reporting • Preparing to report • Structure

15. Preparing to Report • Prepare report for first key opportunity • Prepare it as a social report to accompany financial reports • Decide who is best to present the report; other venues for using it

16. Report Structure: from Chapters 4,5 & 8 • Context: mission, niche, outputs, etc. • Role of volunteers: role played in fulfilling agency mission, contribution expressed as FTE, as a resource compared with other resources • EVAS: including method

17. EVAS - clarifications • Who did the report, for what fiscal year, how • Method: explain sources of data, verification of data; explain Comparative Market Value; cite the use of this method in our text • Qualify: Report qualitative data; discuss limitations – what not included

18. EVAS disclaimer: • “This statement provides social data to accompany the organization’s financial report. It is specific to the year and circumstances reported. It cannot be used to compare with results from other organizations or this organization at other times. It is provides a partial account of the value of volunteer contributions.”

19. Next … • Presentation from “the real world” • Then, a presentation of research that we did on implementing social accounting …

20. Social Accounting in Practice • Presentation by Eric Plato, CMA,Financial officer at Frontier College, graduate of last year’s social accounting certificate course